architectureinberlin

It’s still snowing, which should mean that I’m out and about taking lots of pictures of interesting buildings covered in snow.  But I’ve decided not to venture out until spring (with the exception of the Stammtisch on 19th Jan of course) and am therefore continuing to raid my back catalogue of pics for inspiration.  Ah, memories…

Even though Berlin is now more built up than it has been for all of the second half of the twentieth century, it remains (probably) the only western capital city to have enough space to host a golf driving range in its centre.  Then abandon it.  Having already positioned said driving range within an even bigger area of post-industrial wasteland.  In turn surrounded by semi-abandoned buildings.  It’s here (the green bit roughly in the middle).

I’m never sure whether I’m exaggerating to myself here.  Is Berlin really that deserted compared to the only comparitor city that I know really well, London?  And is London really that manically full of people and things, all of them in a hurry?

Anyway, the space in question has everything; formally a vast goods yard/train-type-thing south of the Kanal from Potsdamer Platz – which you can see in the distance in some of the photos.  That sense therefore, of being in a lonely place where something exciting is happening in the distance (don’t worry – it’s Potsdamer Platz, so in fact nothing very exciting is happening).  Abandoned things.

Post blog note: have now looked this site up (via my IBA guide, at least) which shows it as the ‘Former Potsdam Goods Station’, and at the time the book was published, around 1990, still shows tracks and railway buildings.  The buildings immediately to the west, on Flotwell Strasse, were in the IBA programme as blocks 228 – 240, to be redeveloped to a masterplan by Daniel Libeskind.  It looks typically angular, shard-like and bonkers, with a single long rectangualr structure spanning the site longways (north-south) at high level, as a sort of bridge.  The IBA report notes the status as “Finance for Libeskind project open at present”.  Which is a euphemism for ‘nice idea, but no money, sorry’.

The site is just to the west of the huge abandoned train yard which served the Anhalter Station.  The train turntable sheds are now incorporated in the rather fabulous Technikmuseum – well worth a visit – and includes a vast model railway of part of the goods yards and the Anhalter station itself.

The rear end of the Bombadier company, who still make trains:

Gleisdreieck* U-Bahn station (*’Three-cornered platform’, I guess).

Apologies for poor photo quality – it was darker than it looks, I pressed the wrong buttons on the camera, and had no tripod.

It’s just occurred to me that this post, and several others preceding it, are not really about architecture at all.  Urbanism, at a push maybe.  Sorry for that.  I don’t blame you really for visiting a site called ‘Architecture in Berlin’ and complaining that it should have been called ‘Gloomy Places in Berlin’.  A host of sunlit happy buildings to be featured soon.

Yesterday the sun came out in Berlin, and there was much confusion and fear, followed by rejoicing when people realised what it was.  I thought to myself: “If it’s sunny again tomorrow, I’ll set off and take pictures of some of the many things I want to blog about”.

Today is saturday.  It’s cold, grey and uninviting outside, much like the last three months or so in Berlin, as far as I can remember.  So I’ve decided to stay in the warm and do a blog about… well, not sure really. I’ve been looking through a backlog of things that I’ve photographed or read about but haven’t never got round to mentioning.  Here are a couple.

I thought I would do a sort of ‘bunker collection page’ at some point.  I’ve previously mentioned the Boros collection and the biggy on Pallasstrasse.  Here’s another one, on Schöneberger Strasse, built in 1943:

It currently houses a small exhibition about the bunker itself, and also the Gruselkabinett, a kind of grisly Madame Tussaud’s type affair, if you like that sort of thing. It was retained as part of IBA Block 14, which included the construction of a new school.

The building was next to the huge Anhalter station, heavily damaged in the war, with only a bit of the entrance remaining; it’s the thing you pass on the M29 bus:

Thanks to Burak Bilgin, who I’ve nicked the Flickr image from.  In fact, there’s a set of images on Flickr of Berlin 1959/1960, by Allhails, which includes a couple of the station before total demolition:

Which reminds me that I wanted to mention the M29 bus route, as a fine thing in itself.  I think of it as a sort of ‘IBA express’; it runs through much of Kreuzberg and right past many of the IBA buildings which I’ve blogged about, as well as loads more interesting things which I haven’t.  Might do a full guide at some point.

I also never got round to including some various blocks on my IBA list, mainly because they were just a bit disappointing, even though it was a lovely summer’s day (that’s how long I’ve put off writing anything about them).

See what I mean?  Even I have to admit that not every building constructed as part of the International Bauaustellung 1984/87 really gets me excited.  Actually, the building opposite the one above interested me much more; it’s on the corner of the river bank and Potsdamer Strasse, directly opposite the Neue Nationalgalerie:

It looks to my untrained eye like a 1920s modernist building with a quite cool Foster-ish two storey extension on top.  In fact, have just checked my guidebook, and this is true: 1929, by Loeser & Wolff, although I don’t know who did the new part. Its facade is finely proportioned and detailed (as architecture critics would say) and I like it very much.

Anyway, while I’ve been wittering away, the sun has come out, so am off out for a late breakfast.

Post blog note: yes I did know it was Valentine’s day.  Me and the missus went out that evening, since you ask.